HOBOKEN, N.J. (September 17, 2010) – Senior midfielder Nolan Sandberg tallied his third game-winning goal of the season in the 63rd minute as the No. 12 Stevens Institute of Technology men's soccer team moved to 5-0-1 with a 1-0 win over No. 23 York College (Pa.) on Friday night at the De Baun Athletic Complex in front of a crowd of more than 550 people. Senior goalkeeper Zach Carr and the rest of the Stevens defense shutout yet another opponent to run their scoreless streak to 566:19 to open the 2010 season.
After a few minutes of feeling each other out, the Ducks went on the offensive first, generating a pair of corners 35 seconds apart but could not get a strong look on goal. Following five minutes of up-and-down, end-to-end play, York was able to take its first shots of the game but like its counterpart, the looks were not solid.
In the 11th minute, the first half's best chance came when sophomore Zach Adler played a perfect long ball down the left seam to Sandberg. The veteran held the defender off on his right side and ripped a shot that went just wide off the near post.
York was able to outshoot the Ducks 9-4 in the opening stanza but Stevens controlled 60 percent of the possession. The Spartans also ended the half with a 4-3 edge in corners. The best York chance of the half came in the 38th minute when freshman Aaron Beale (Baltimore, Md.) made a run down the right side and fired a shot that Carr was able to deflect wide.
The first 15 minutes of the second half saw both teams use the entire field. Each squad had several attempts miss high and wide but the score remained tied at 0-0 until the 62:37 mark. Freshman Curtis Stecyk corralled a pass 40 yards out and made a move down the middle of the field. Stecyk tried to make a pass himself but it was deflected by Spartan defender. The ball bounced to Sandberg, who controlled two yards inside the box on the right side, beat the defender, and buried a low tracer in the lower-left corner for his third tally of the season.
After the Ducks went on top, York had a couple of decent chances on long set pieces or long balls played into the box, but in each case, no one was home and the score remained 1-0.
The Ducks narrowly missed going up 2-0 when junior Zach Bowman gained possession after a Michael Quijano and launched a rocket at the top-right corner but sophomore goalkeeper Jesse Derksen (York, Pa.) made a sprawling save to keep the Stevens lead at one.
Stevens outshot York 9-4 and the second half and each squad ended with 13 attempts on the night. The Ducks finished with a 6-4 edge in corners.
It is the fourth 1-0 win of the year for Stevens and it has now shutout the last nine opponents its played. Overall, the Ducks have outscored the opposition 6-0 in 2010.
The Ducks will look for their sixth victory of the season on September 22 when they travel to Manhattanville College.
